Rafi Eitan, the spy who captured Nazi leader Eichmann in Buenos Aires, is dead

The former Israeli spy Rafi Eitan, who had led the Mossad's operation in 1960 to capture Nazi Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires, died today at the age of 92.

"My wife Sarah and I, along with all the Jewish people, lament the death of our beloved Rafi Eitan, one of the heroes of Israel's intelligence service in many acts of security ", recalled today the Prime Minister, Benjamin. Netanyahu

The head of government added that over the years, Eitan "took part in public life, was a minister of the Israeli government and worked on the restoration of Jewish property stolen during the Holocaust".

He also noted that Eitan was a close friend of his family and defined him as someone of "full of wisdom, ingenuity, and an infinite commitment to the people of Israel ", quoted by the agency EFE.

He was born in 1926 in Ein Harud, a kibbutz in northern Israel, in a family of Russian Jewish immigrants. As an adult, he joined the Jewish militia in Palmaj, where he participated in many missions, including the one known as "The Night of the Bridges", to destroy eleven bridges connecting Palestine under British mandate to neighboring Arab countries, reminded Haaretz newspaper.

As a member of the intelligence services, he took part in dozens of missions, including the capture of the Nazi Adolf Eichmann, while Eitan was at the head of the joint operations unit of the services Israeli secrets.

Sent to Buenos Aires to capture him, he is in charge of the capture operation in March 1960, for which he chooses seven people – out of a group of 250 people at his disposal – to occupy himself exclusively with the l & # 39; 39; case.

Eichmann was one of the SS officers accused of transporting millions of Jews from ghettos to concentration and extermination camps. He was sentenced to death at the end of a trial in Israel for crimes against humanity, for which he became the only person to serve the death penalty in the country.

He was hanged on June 1, 1962 and his remains were cremated. To avoid the cult of future neo-Nazis, their ashes were scattered in the Mediterranean by an Israeli navy ship in the presence of Holocaust survivors, outside waters under Israel's jurisdiction.

After working in the field of espionage agencies, Eitan spent a few years in the private sector, then returned to work in the security sector, holding various positions as an advisor or executive in state-owned companies. , as well as forming the GIL political party, with the one who became Minister of Pensioners' Issues between 2006 and 2009.